Archives / November 2016

Tacoma Little Theater, a 98-year old community theater, presented one of the best of the modern Christmas tales this past weekend, Miracle on 34th St. Like many Christmas tales, it deals with questions of morality and generosity through an unrealistic plot. Originally a film in 1947, starring Maureen O’Hara and Natalie Wood, there is also a fair amount of wit and humor.

Nearly 13 year old Jim Hawkins (Alex Silva) lives and helps out at the Admiral Benbow Inn with his father (unseen) and mother (Gin Hammond). A mysterious stranger, “Captain” Billy Bones (Jim Gall), arrives and asks Hawkins to keep a look out for a man with a wooden leg. But Bones is found, and he gets first one and then a second unwelcomed visit by pirates looking for him and the map he holds of buried treasure.

Playwright Mark Brown poses the question: “Can Scrooge learn yet another life lesson?” with his holiday farce The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge. The play revolves around Old Scrooge charging Jacob Marley and the Christmas Spirits with trespassing, kidnapping, assault and battery. The stakes are not enormously high here; how much can be emotionally invested in a lawsuit against a bevy of ghosts? But uniformly solid acting and a clever surprise ending provide enough fun to send us out into the Seattle winter night with a good amount of holiday cheer.

In his first-ever U.S. tour comedian Peter Antoniou shows off the skills that have made him an underground hit in the U.K. He’s charming, witty, can work an audience, and just might be able to read your mind.

Seattle Repertory Theater’s production of “King Charles III,” by award-winning playwright Mike Bartlett, places this modern history play within an Elizabethan half-ring of ancient stone walls topped with statues of figures of antiquity. Under their austere gaze, England’s royal family descends from mourning the death of Queen Elizabeth into a messy political duel, where family and political […]

In these days of endless agonizing political hand-wringing, React Theatre offers a brilliant antidote. Brilliant Traces, a delightfully tragic and tragically delightful two- person play, now playing at the Prima Vera Arts Center is guaranteed to get your mind off the election as you laugh as well as cry in this tale of love and loss

Village Theatre premiered “Singin’ in the Rain” last night (November 10), the stage version of a 1952 Gene Kelley/Donald O’Connor movie musical. The production is sumptious; the acting and dancing is wonderful; the singing of standards like “You Stepped Out of a Dream,” “Good Morning,” “You Are My Lucky Star,” “All I DO is Dream […]